State Asks Judge To Revoke Sex Suspect's Bail

Says Man Accused In Assaults Violated Release Terms

Hearing Ordered

June 28, 2007|By DAVID OWENS; Courant Staff Writer

VERNON — The assistant state's attorney in Rockville prosecuting Scott D. Shefelbine for a host of alleged sexual assaults on teenage girls is asking a judge to revoke Shefelbine's bail and send him to jail.

The action comes a week after West Hartford police arrested Shefelbine, 32, of Tolland, on charges that he had inappropriate contact with a 14-year-old girl in their town, apparently in violation of the terms of his release on the nine criminal cases pending against him. Those terms require, among other things, that Shefelbine not leave his parents' Tolland home.

Shefelbine's parents have posted $1.5 million in bail to keep him out of jail as the state's cases against him progress.

Under the terms of his release, Shefelbine is confined to his parents' home 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He is permitted to leave only for medical and legal appointments and for church, and is also under electronic monitoring. He is prohibited from any unsupervised contact with girls younger than 18, is not to contact his alleged victims and is not permitted to use or possess a computer.

In her application to revoke Shefelbine's bail, Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth C. Leaming detailed the charges against Shefelbine, the restrictions placed upon him by judges in Rockville, and the allegations against him filed last week by West Hartford police.

``The defendant has violated reasonable conditions of his release which prohibit him from having contact with girls under 18 years of age, prohibit him from possessing or using a computer and require him to abide by the terms of his electronic monitoring,'' Leaming wrote.

Leaming also argues that Shefelbine ``has been arrested for inappropriate, offensive contact with a 14-year-old female.'' She further argues that ``the safety of others is endangered while the defendant remains on release.''

Rockville Superior Court Judge Patricia L. Harleston found probable cause to believe that Shefelbine has violated the terms of his release and ordered him to court for a hearing July 10.

The new charges by West Hartford police allege that Shefelbine, pretending to be someone else, contacted via computer and telephone a girl with whom he'd allegedly had sexual contact and whose complaint to police resulted in one of the criminal cases now pending.

That girl alerted police to alleged contact between Shefelbine and a friend of hers, a 14-year-old girl who lives in West Hartford.

Shefelbine allegedly contacted that girl by computer and telephone, met her near the Friendly's restaurant on South Main Street in West Hartford Center, went to her home and twice kissed her on the lips without her consent.

Shefelbine also allegedly told the 14-year-old that he was 17 and that he lived with his father in West Hartford and attended the Kingswood-Oxford School.

The 14-year-old provided police with several dates and times she met with Shefelbine, and they were consistent with times that, according to the electronic monitor he is required to wear, he was away from his parents' home at 167 Mountain Springs Road, Tolland.

Shefelbine has also filed a motion seeking to have the conditions of his release altered. His lawyers are asking that ``the perimeter of his home confinement'' be expanded so that he can perform chores on the family's 14-acre farm in Tolland. Shefelbine's parents, the lawyers argue, have physical disabilities that prevent them from doing such work.

``These chores include large amounts of raking, mowing, feeding and tending to the needs of animals, gathering hay, gardening, and harvesting crops,'' the motion reads.